Good afternoon Traders,As onslow already posted earlier today,...

Good afternoon Traders,

As onslow already posted earlier today, retail sales figures were up by 1.1% - here's a bit of light reading to match the news:-

[Source: www.bloomberg.com]

Australian Retail Sales Rebound in April, Biggest Jump Since November 2009
By Michael Heath - Jun 2, 2011 11:50 AM ET

Australian retail sales rose in April by the most in 17 months as an economy driven by mining-industry growth recovered from its worst quarterly contraction in two decades.

Sales advanced 1.1 percent from a month earlier, when they declined a revised 0.3 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. That was the biggest jump since November 2009 and almost three times more than the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 25 economists for a 0.4 percent increase.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens has paused raising interest rates at 4.75 percent for the past five meetings to help Queensland state recover from torrential rains and a cyclone. A report yesterday showed gross domestic product shrank in the first quarter by the most in 20 years as floods slashed exports, even as household spending grew and business investment surged.

"Retailer anecdotes of an improvement in store traffic in April suggest an improvement from March's decline," Joshua Williamson, a senior economist in Sydney at Citigroup Inc., wrote in a report before today's release.

Spending at department stores rose 3.6 percent, while clothing and footwear spending increased 1.2 percent, today's report showed. Consumers spent 0.3 percent less in April at cafes and restaurants, it showed.


Have a great afternoon trading all!

Cheers, Tweets (: